I am 6 weeks postpartum and feel great. I am physically, emotionally and mentally grounded. If you do not know me personally, you will also know I went into pregnancy, labor and delivery as well as postpartum without any expectations.
I knew if I got my hopes up about something, or expected something to go one way and it went the other that I would be torn apart, so I chose to almost be naive and just learn as I go, but people I am disappointed.
Yup! I used the “D” word. You know when you are growing up and your parent says “I’m not angry with you, just disappointed?” Yeah, we would have almost rather had our parents be angry for a decade before hearing that. This is what I am disappointed about:
The lack of postpartum support, knowledge and overall chit chat.
I am a pretty open book. I have no shame in speaking out about the hard stuff, or just rather, things that I wish someone would have shared with me. I had a baby 6 weeks ago, my hooha was stitched up and I still have yet to see my doctor. That doctor that I saw almost every 4-2 weeks for almost a year while pregnant.
If I had an issue, sure, I could make an appointment, but I assume that everything is okay with me physically.
What about knowing when bump your baby up in ounces of milk? What about the fact that even though my stitches have dissolved, apparently my girly parts still can get bruised extremely easy…like by wearing jeans and walking around a store…I mean come on! I knew I would be sore but no one told me about that. Orrrr advice on how to feel like a human in society when you have been wearing sweat pants and taking care of a tiny human.
My rant is over, but you get the picture. There is so much in many different areas that are unspoken, not taught or even thought about by professionals and even people who have had babies before me.
This is where I say thank you to my tribe of women. Some are family, some are friends, others are my friends and supporters on social media who have helped me through more than I can explain. Without all of you answering my ridiculous questions, or validating what I was going through, I would be lost. I may even had struggled and could have ended up not recovering physically, mentally or emotionally (trust me the recovery process is still happening).
I challenge you to speak out about the things that are hard, are beautiful or even just ask questions. No one cares if they are embarrassing, after having a baby there is nothing that bothers me. What about you?
The Midwestern Mama 